D&D (2024) Do you think they will add more races to PHB2024 to make up for dropping other stuff?

[Clint_L]

What stuff was dropped? As far as I can see, the updated PHB has a number of additions - there will be level 1 feats, weapon masteries, every subclass either updated or new ones added - wizard and cleric lose a few but those are more than compensated for by the others. Two new species in place of the two half-races, and now an option for every kind of mixed species you can imagine.

OP, what particular things are dropped from the current PHB that you think will make the updated version shorter? I think it will likely need to be a bit longer.

 

[Clint_L]

I sometimes wonder about the alternate reality where D&D has a single setting and all the lore and mechanics to the base game was tightly tied to it. Dwarves couldn't be wizards, but they could be rune casters for example. You didn't need to water down the game to fit 20+ official settings and millions of homebrews, you could have a D&D where lore and rules both informed game design.

That's the alternate reality where I am not interested in D&D. The first thing my friends and I did with AD&D was throw out all the rules limiting races and genders to specific classes, level progression, ability scores, etc. And we never really bothered with alignment to begin with. No thanks, a super prescriptive "this is how the fantasy genre must be" world is not for me!

 

[Horwath]

The more this trainwreck of 'half-races' debate continues, I'm hoping for a custom race/lineage only where you 'point buy' your race/lineage with the classics like; human, elf, dwarf, orc are just being shown as example.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

The species are different. There is species (and cultural) disparity. This is not a social issue, as much as people seem to want to make everything into one; it's a worldbuilding issue, and different groups of the same species can have different cultures and different spellcasting traditions. And yes, an elven or Dwarven culture has every reason to cast spells differently from a human one.

Putting a greater emphasis on race and culture over class is not something I am interested in. Mechanically, I play for the class mechanics, and the race and background add seasoning for story and tweaks on mechanics.

What you are describing is more along the lines of Bladesingers only being elves. I believe that was not a good idea and unsurprisingly that restriction has been removed from the game. If a DM wants to gatekeep meaningful mechanics behind racial division, I'm not interested.

 

[Corinnguard]

The more this trainwreck of 'half-races' debate continues, I'm hoping for a custom race/lineage only where you 'point buy' your race/lineage with the classics like; human, elf, dwarf, orc are just being shown as example.

The Advanced Race Guide for Pathfinder 1st edition does have a Race Builder chapter that uses a point buy system to create races. The book even shows you a point-by-point cost for races such as humans, elves, dwarves and orcs, and their alternate racial traits. The problem with a point buy system is trying to assign a point buy cost to each and every racial trait. Not just the current ones, but the newer ones being invented for a new, never before seen race.

 

[Horwath]

The Advanced Race Guide for Pathfinder 1st edition does have a Race Builder chapter that uses a point buy system to create races. The book even shows you a point-by-point cost for races such as humans, elves, dwarves and orcs, and their alternate racial traits. The problem with a point buy system is trying to assign a point buy cost to each and every racial trait. Not just the current ones, but the newer ones being invented for a new, never before seen race.

I have that book.

And its not a problem but opportunity.

Just make rules for custom races 1st, and then by those rules you make your core races.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Putting a greater emphasis on race and culture over class is not something I am interested in. Mechanically, I play for the class mechanics, and the race and background add seasoning for story and tweaks on mechanics.

What you are describing is more along the lines of Bladesingers only being elves. I believe that was not a good idea and unsurprisingly that restriction has been removed from the game. If a DM wants to gatekeep meaningful mechanics behind racial division, I'm not interested.

I like all the parts of the imaginary world to matter, not just those that primarily interact with the combat system.

 

[dave2008]

I like all the parts of the imaginary world to matter, not just those that primarily interact with the combat system.

Things can matter without having specific mechanics attached to them. What mattes in an imaginary world is up to the one who imagines it, not the game mechanics IMO.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

I like all the parts of the imaginary world to matter, not just those that primarily interact with the combat system.

To me they all matter, but not equally. When one restricts the other in a way that I don't like, I will discard it, and I appreciate a design that doesn't make me discard it. I like a matrix of interchangable options, and I'm more comfortable with the silos being defined by classes rather than race or background.

 

[Clint_L]

The more this trainwreck of 'half-races' debate continues, I'm hoping for a custom race/lineage only where you 'point buy' your race/lineage with the classics like; human, elf, dwarf, orc are just being shown as example.

Is it a "train wreck," though? There's a small group of people who are really focused on it, but most folks reacted very positively to the proposed change. I think the new new way of doing mixed species is great - it preserves balance while letting players have any combination they can imagine. I think species should largely be an aesthetic choice, anyway; I like the emphasis to be on the choices a character makes rather than how they were born.

Point buy would be a balancing nightmare, and would ultimate lead to homogenization as power gamers figure out the optimal combinations, which then trickles down to the general player population.